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BlackSn0w Unlock for iPhone Baseband 05.11.07 + BlackRa1n RC3 Jailbreak Released

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 04 Nov 2009 11:09:27 GMT

GeoHot has released BlackSn0w to unlock iPhone Baseband 05.11.07 and BlackRa1n RC3.

GeoHot has also updated BlackRa1n, jailbreak for iPhone OS 3.1.2, to RC3. BlackRa1n RC3 now comes with:

Hacktivation support. (Which means after jailbreaking your iPhone, you will be able to install BlackSn0w to unlock iPhone 05.11.07 from withing BlackRa1n.app, installs when you jailbreak iPhone using BlackRa1n).
Supports Tiger+PPC
The fastest jailbreak ever, is now 15 seconds faster.
The best part of this BlackRa1n RC3 is that it also enables official tethering.

How the BlackRa1n RC3 and BlackSn0w Works

For Loyal BlackRa1n users:

If you are a loyal blackra1n user who kept the blackra1n.app on your iPhone, run it. You will see Icy replaced by an option “ra1n”. Install this to upgrade your app. After upgrading, run blackra1n.app again. You will see “sn0w”. Install this, and enjoy your unlocked iPhone.

New Users:

If you are new to the scene, just looking for an unlock, finally ready to upgrade to 3.1.2 and the accompanying baseband, willing to restore for the latest and greatest, or stuck on the “Connect to iTunes” screen, you are in luck. Jailbreaking and unlocking have never been easier. Go to blackra1n.com, click on the logo corresponding to your operating system, run the app, and click “make it ra1n”. When your phone reboots, you’ll see blackra1n.app. Run this, install blacksn0w, and enjoy your unlocked iPhone.

PwnageTool Users:

If you jailbroke using pwnage or deleted your blackra1n.app, you are in luck too. Sometime later in the sn0wday, blacksn0w will be added to Cydia, and instructions will be posted here.

iPhone 2G Users:

If you are on a 2G iPhone, blacksn0w isn’t an option for you. But BootNeuter is, a completely free permanent unlock for your 2G. Of course, blackra1n will work great, and even hacktivate for you. Also, a note. This may be the best iPhone users ever have it. Be sure, if you have a 3GS or iPod Touch 3, to use Cydia’s “On File” or Firmware Umbrella in order to be able to restore to 3.1.2 in the future. And as always, the baseband cannot be downgraded, so be *super* careful with updates if you need the unlock.

GeoHot has given Credit to iH8Sn0w for point out at+xemn command that resulted is Baseband 05.11.07 unlock. You can download BlackRa1n RC3 from the link below:

Download BlackRa1n RC3 (BlackSn0w is accessible from within BlackRa1n.app after Jailbreak).

BlackRa1n Jailbreak for Mac is Out now

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 14 Oct 2009 21:37:52 GMT

With the release of PwnageTool from the house of Dev-Team, now it’s again GeoHot who has come up with Mac version of BlackRa1n jailbreak.

BlackRa1n is said to be the easiest and quickest jailbreak solution so far.

But here’s the most important difference between BlackRa1n and PwnageTool:

BlackRa1n requires you to update your iDevice to OS 3.1.2 and then jailbreak it. Which means your Baseband will be updated and would not be able to unlock your iPhone later. PwnageTool, on the other hand, creates a custom firmware which preserves your Baseband from updating so that you may unlock your iPhone later if you want to.

Use PwnageTool if you want to Unlock your iPhone after jailbreaking it because PwnageTool does NOT update your iPhone Baseband.

Download BlackRa1n Jailbreak for Mac:

Official Site

PwnageTool 3.1.4 Released to Jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.2

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 13 Oct 2009 23:13:14 GMT

After BlackRa1n jailbreak for OS 3.1.2, Dev-Team has released their updated version of PwnageTool to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.2. Unlike BlackRa1n, PwnageTool preserves your Baseband to let you unlock your iPhone if you want to.

PwnageTool 3.1.4 now supports the iPhone 3GS OTB, iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G, iPod Touch (1st Gen and 2nd Gen). Sorry, no support for iPod Touch 3G for now.

PwnageTool is for Mac OS X only.

Details:

PwnageTool supports the iPhone 3GS OTB. If you bought a new iPhone with 3.1.2 or updated your iPhone via iTunes, you will now be able to jailbreak your iPhone. But no Unlock, atleast for now.
Unlike BlackRa1n, PwnageTool does not update your Baseband which then let you unlock your iPhone using UltraSn0w. BlackRa1n jailbreaks your iPhone but also updates its Baseband so won’t be able to unlock it.
BlackRa1n brought a lot of bugs with it. If you have used BlackRa1n on your iPhone, still you can use custom firmware made with PwnageTool to get rid of all bugs.
If you’re using Tethering hack on your iPhone, you better stay away from updating because it will kill the tethering hack.
You can jailbreak iPod Touch 2G only if it was jailbroken before. No support for iPod Touch 3G jailbreak.
You can use PwnageTool made Custom firmwares in Windows environment but not the PwnageTool because it’s for MAC only.
There’s no info available on when will the Windows version of PwnageTool and Unlock for latest Baseband be available.

PwnageTool Jailbreak for iPhone OS 3.1.2 is Almost Ready

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 12 Oct 2009 23:43:12 GMT

In absence of PwnageTool to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1.2, GeoHot released an All-in-one jailbreak iPhone solution with the name BlackRa1n.

Now it’s dependable Dev-Team’s turn. MuscleNerd, a member of the Dev-Team, has announced the release of the new version of PwnageTool is almost imminent. The upcoming PwnageTool will be able to create custom firmwares to jailbreak iPhone 3GS, 3G, 2G, iTouch and iPod Touch 2G.

PwnageTool let you create custom firmware for iPhone that only update the firmware version not the Baseband of your device so that you may use UltraSn0w then to unlock iPhone (3G and 3GS).

BlackRa1n to Jailbreak All iPhones and iPod Touches on OS 3.1/3.1.2

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 12 Oct 2009 23:35:42 GMT

Finally the wait is over for all Windows users who want to jailbreak iPhone or iPod Touch running iPhone OS 3.1/3.1.2. Please read the complete post before trying BlackRa1n.

BlackRa1n is available for Windows users only. GeoHot has provided following information about his iPhone Jailbreak tool (BlackRa1n):

So, what is blackra1n? blackra1n is a 30 second ALL device 3.1.2 jailbreak. Even the ipt3, but the ipt3 is tethered. In order to boot it, just rerun blackra1n. As far as donations go, they are much appreciated, but not until after blackra1n works for you. I never ask for donations before the tool is released.

GeoHot also warned iPhone 3GS and 3G users who want to unlock their iPhones to not to upgrade to OS 3.1.2 using iTunes directly:

Warning 3g and 3gs unlockers, do not upgrade to 3.1.2 using iTunes if you want to keep your unlock. Baseband cannot be downgraded. Check out the dev team’s offerings. Also blackra1n doesn’t hacktivate.

IMPORTANT:

BlackRa1n jailbraks iPhone OS 3.1 and 3.1.2.
BlackRa1n does NOT unlock your iPhone.
BlackRa1n doesn’t hacktivate your iPhone. So, you MUST be using an official carrier.
If you’ve an iPhone 3G or 3GS and have unlocked it to use on unofficial carrier then you better stay away from updating to OS 3.1/3.1.2. Wait for an updated version of PwnageTool from the Dev-Team.
BlackRa1n provides only tethered jailbreak for iPod Touch 3G. Which means on restarting your Touch you will need to rerun BlackRa1n.
In short, If you want to only jailbreak your iPhone and don’t care about unlocking it, then you can try blackra1n

Download BlackRa1n to Jailbreak iPhones and iPod Touches

If you want to only jailbreak your iPhone and don’t care about unlocking it, then you can download BlackRa1n from Official Site.

Sn0wBreeze: iPhone OS 3.1 Jailbreak for Windows Coming Soon

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 09 Oct 2009 08:42:16 GMT

iH8sn0w and DarkMalloc have teamed up to bring Sn0wBreeze for Windows to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1 on October 12 2009

Sn0wBreeze will come with PwnageTool functionality but unlike PwnageTool it will work on Windows OS.

This is what iH8sn0w tweeted about the upcoming software:

SnowBreeze will do all those things for Windows users that PwnageTool does for Mac.

Here are some screenshots of Sn0wBreeze:

Apple released iPhone OS 3.1.2. Jailbreakers Stay Away from it!

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 09 Oct 2009 08:19:59 GMT

Apple has just released iPhone OS 3.1.2 which comes with a lot of bug fixes including issues like iPhone would not wake from sleep and video playback and cellular service.

Resolves sporadic issue that may cause iPhone to not wake from sleep
Resolves intermittent issue that may interrupt cellular network services until restart
Fixes bug that could cause occasional crash during video streaming

This update is available for the original iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, and the iPod touch.

WARNING: Jailbreakers and Unlockers should stay away from any latest iPhone firmware update including 3.1.2.

Jailbreak for All iPhones and iPod Touches Coming Soon

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 09 Oct 2009 08:16:31 GMT

Next few weeks are going to be big fun for iPhone jailbreak community.

It was Dev-Team who released the PwnageTool in the first place to jailbreak iPhone OS 3.1. But it works only for Mac. Then there comes a couple of hackers who announced Sn0wBreeze which will work just like PwnageTool but unlike PwnageTool it will work in Windows environment.

This time it’s first iPhone Hacker: GeoHot. Who developed the PurpleRa1n and is famous for keep on digging exploits. This time he has posted this on his Blog:

And prepare to meet the program that will jailbreak them all.

Yeah, you got it right. GeoHot has found an iPhone jailbreak that will work on all iPhones and iPod Touches.

no affiliation to greenpois0n. and it’s in some ways the complete opposite of purplera1n. but still 10 seconds. and may work for every version of software *ever*, based on the prettiness of the exploit

Great! If this tool is for real then you will be able to jailbreak any iPhone or iPod Touch in just 10 seconds and could work on any upcoming firmwares.

PMP Cert

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 26 May 2009 20:11:07 GMT

WooHoo! I passed my PMP certification test. I'm now a certified PMP from PMI - yippee!

Snow day

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 03 Mar 2009 03:08:41 GMT

March 2nd and we finally got our first snow of the season here in the Washington DC area. Anywhere from 4-12 inches. We had approx 5-6 inches. Crazy cause on Friday it was in the mid sixties!

Here's a pic of a walking trial in my neighborhood this a.m.

A Time to Begin

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 16 Nov 2008 07:58:22 GMT

Hello All,

This have been a busy 2 week period and finally, relief & closing to an interesting year, almost.

Between running my business, Both of my Daughters Turing 16 years old, Sweet 16 Birthday Party's & Each wanting their drivers license, and the Final Election results, I am burnt out....… And lost my hair, really, it's gone.

I do realize, As allot of you also, That when you are going and going for months on end with no rest in site, and then finally you get that rest... Well.. Do you feel as lost as I do?

Anyway, as of a few day's ago, I received my retail copies of Nero 9 and Move it, as promised, I am now setting aside some of this free-time I have to dedicate to doing some small video shorts of Nero's applications and features that are offered.

I have spoken to allot of my clients and friends and asked, what would they think would be the best way to get started with this project? This is what we came up with and reason's why.

Now I realize there are allot of intermediate to expert users out there that are computer savvy and really understand the inner workings of software and hardware, I also understand that those ones that have spent years with computers don't really need the information as allot of the newer users and ones that have not been privy to using a computer with Nero Software for a long period of time.

So do I strike a balance, start out as everyone has a complete grasp on system and software concept's? Or start from the ground, and work up.

I was thinking back to about 11 years ago, I had been hired by our local school district to teach an adult education class on Computer Concepts twice a week for 12 weeks, I had also been Employed with the School District for 6 years prior in the Computer Department, A small team of 4 of us that took care of 19 Schools in the whole district, I really loved that job, Met allot of great people, and was asked to teach that adult Computer Class in the evening.

Now I need to be truthful here, I had never taught a class before, I had spoken to groups of people about how Wireless was taking off and how business and regular consumers could harness this new concept also how to control and manage security in a business atmosphere(Remember this was many Years ago, Wireless was a new thing and real scary to allot of folks 7 computer were really just becoming mainstream and excepted as common household item… or however you would like to address the concept, it was just new and scary...)

"Now look how far we have come."

Anyway..

I had walked into this portable building at 6:00 p.m., to teach my first class, 18 very nice and very Computer illiterate folks...... were there.

" Have you heard the saying that Computer Hardware Designers "SHOULD NOT" write the Manuals for the Hardware they create because in the end, No One can understand what they wrote"?

Thats they way I felt, the lump in my throat grew, along with my innards in knots... Unsureness in myself if I would be able to do this.

Well I was lucky enough the first night to take time and find out what the folks wanted to be taught, I asked each one to write down what they wanted to have a grasp in understanding a general concept, by the end of the 12 week class, also what was more important to them to learn and just what they wanted to use a computer for,

"Lucked out on that one" but I learned something important from that experience.

All of them, Including myself were unsure of ourselves in our own way, Each one of the Students were unsure, and really afraid of the computer, i was unsure of how i was going to handle the task of teaching them, and making sure when they finished this course that they had paid for, that they would walk away and feel satisfied, and most of all sure enough in themselves, while enjoying the experience and not making them more hesitant then what they where before they entered the door.

I completed the first night and it went well, I had the information in hand they had written down that evening, reviewing each one closely, I had two day's to try and put together a Lesson plain that would be beneficial to all of them, and to each ones personal needs, but how?

Note: "These folks were warped up so tight, if the tension and unsureness were to let go all at once, the Small portable building we all were in would have disintegrated."

The one thing I had interpreted from the writings of each of them was not in direct words but "They all felt the same way",

They all had a commonality with each other "They Were Afraid of The Computer"

This was the bond I needed to tie them all together, and I needed to make them all feel sure of themeless, as Individual's and as a group.

Note: "Once you get a group of people with the same commonality's and interests, you can tackle allot of things at once, and create a good learning atmosphere and a safe place to learn."

The next class was interesting, I had brought in some 8088 & 286 motherboards, assorted video cards, ram and numerous other items, like CD burners ect... Just Parts in a box, and handed them out to be passed around the room.

"Now the concept behind this was, in my mind easy, "But would it work"? if they were afraid of computers, Show them they had nothing to fear, And really, a computer in itself is just a sum of it parts pieced together, and is far less intimidating in pieces then the loud roaring fan's and spinning drives that had invoked the fear in them in the first place."

After the passing of the Parts (revelation here :-) ) that the whole mood of the class changed, question's where being asked, the student's where more relaxed and comfortable, communication was flowing and they all felt more at ease with themeless and each other.

The last 10 weeks of the class were fun, and allot of folks were helping each other, this environment was one of the best I had ever encountered,It was the people, and willingness to understand that we all have commonality's, allot of the same, including the teacher.

"My Own Belief is 'There are no dumb questions" "and no matter what, no one should be afraid to ask a question for fear of someone criticizing them, only the ones that criticize need to look in on themselves and realize they are the ones searching for answers, but believe the have them all but have none."

Now what does this all have to do with the "Nero Video Short's"

I will start with the rule, Basic's first and move forward, since there is a number of different needs, use what you can disagreed what you don't need, everyone benefits.

The first video's will be basic interface and maneuverability concepts of the applications 7 General GUI, being able to find all the applications, from using the Nero menu's on up to expert settings and uses. Creating certain types of projects, codec issues and tweaking aspects will be added in liner notes.

The videos will be a visual walkthrough of completing a certain task, step by step, (Nero offers some great step by step tutorial's on their site, so I will augment by added information to each of their included videos so we don't address things that have already been covered by the Nero tutorials.

I will add some suggested setting's to use by experts in the field and some links to great blogs that have already covered items of interest, with links to pages so you may research further, also firmware links and information on best disc usage.

So within the next few weeks new video shorts and information will be posted here on my blog, i will address the basic issues and move forward, as we get closer to the more involved task's, I will open the Blog up for requests for specific tasks, I encourage all of you that would like to share information with our community to do so, lets keep this as fun and entertaining as we can, also please always remember lets offer respect to all those who participate, no question will be treated as dumb or unworthy to be answered.

I will keep this blog on the concept that we will follow the path of helping other users, Please have respect for each individual that post's.

See All of you in a few weeks, And its great to be back after a long and tiring year.

Peace,

Ken

P.S. For some odd reason the My Nero site is not holding layout information or tabbing. Looks like a formatting problem with the HTML code of the Nero site this morning, i'll check back in a few day's to see if it can be corrected, So excuse the layout of my Blog, it was not intentional that it looks like it does at this time.

"The World is a Mess, and I Just Need to Rule It" - Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 04 Nov 2008 05:16:51 GMT

I was sitting in my car over the weekend, waiting for my daughter to finish her ballet lessons. I was supposed to be reading some government security documentation for work, but the thought of doing so was on-par with root canal therapy on that cold morning.

So I pulled my iPod out of the glove compartment, looking for something to amuse me. I'd impulse purchased "Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" from iTunes about a month ago, mainly because of the Josh Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Serenty) connection. I'd never watched it, but hey, I had the time.

Thirty minutes later, my daughter knocked on the car window asking why I was crying and laughing at the same time. I was enthralled. I got her to watch it on the drive back home, and she's not stopped singing the tunes either.

This little piece of drama, self-funded in the "low six figures" by Josh Whedon during the writer's strike and filmed in six days, is the funniest thing I've seen in years. If you've not seen it, GO NOW. SEE IT.

You won't be disappointed.

Coming soon in DVD, where Whedon promises the first ever musical commentary track. I can't wait.

BD+ Analyzed and Hacked?

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 04 Nov 2008 05:07:06 GMT

As people who've been following my blog know, I've been very interested in both the business and technology surrounding Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. One notable intersection between the business and technology has been DRM, with the intriguing BD+ (aka. SPDC) developed by Cryptography Research Inc. and later acquired by Macrovision.

Since June, the researchers (I won't use the pejorative "h" word) have been looking into BD+, and their work has been documented in this forum post. For those who think that this is being done for nefarious purposes, their primary motivation has been to understand the technology and use that to implement Blu-Ray playback under Linux.

In fairness, I should also note that Slysoft "cracked" BD+ some time ago, although the technical details of their attack remained proprietary. Slysoft staff did, however, make some interesting if vague commentary during the early analysis.

The actual success announcement is on page 15. The whole thread is pretty heavy going, but anyone interested in what the folks are CR planned, and how it was defeated, is very interesting. It also raises the question of response: will BD+ support be withdrawn from the software players which clearly facilitated this attack?

Anyway, I look forward to comprehensive Blu-Ray support in a legal, open source player sometime in the near future.

Nero 9 Video Short's

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 31 Oct 2008 07:02:49 GMT

Hello All,

I have been working with Nero 9 putting it through it's paces, trying to get a feel for the New features and improvements that have been added and those that have been changed, I am Impressed with the improvements of the Interface, Nero 9 seems to be more Snappier and fun to use, There were some problems with installing the Program until a re-download on the new updated version.

Nero Move-It has a Nice Clean Pleasant interface, Coupled with the fact that it makes it easier to be able to drag and drop or just point and click at what you would like the program to Preform each task you would like, and this is a greatly appealing to users that need an option to convert or manage different types of Media for Many platform's or just one "Very Nice"

I am Limited on what i can do as my time with the Demo's is up, I have uninstalled the Demo Version's from My system and Put back on Nero 8, I would like to keep using and testing Nero 9 and Move-It with my Video and Audio Files & will re post when i get the full retail Version Of Nero 9 installed.

If After I Reinstall Nero 9 And Move -It Again I am setting up to do a Series called
"Nero 9 Video Help Short's"
I will Start with the New Features in Nero 9 and move to Nero’s Move-it and then to other applications that Nero offers, I would really like the Community to offer there input on what they need help with, I will keep the videos short and to the point, they will be able to be downloaded and kept for personal use and even burnt to DVD after the series is complete “Whenever that is”

I will Start with some small shorts in the coming weeks that i will choose, then i will open up my blog for suggestions from Nero 9 users that would like to have a small video Walkthrough to help and augment their journey with the New Nero 9 Series of Software application’s.

I believe allot of users will be surprised on the use of Nero 9, The integration with Vista is also improved greatly, and there were some problems on the Release of the Nero 9 Software 3 weeks ago, this had been taken care of, please make sure if you have a version of Nero on your System you download the Correct Nero Clean Tool located on the Nero Downloaded paged to Remove Any Traces of Nero fro you system.

So in the Next few weeks there will be a Video Short Added of the New Nero 9 Feature Set, then Bi-Weekly Video updates after that, Then I will open the Blog up for Nero 9 users that would like to ask for a specific Video Walk through.

I Encourage everyone to get evolved if they like.

Note: The Timing of this Depends on getting my hand’s on the full Nero 9 Retail & Move-it & complete my other Clients projects by the deadline set.

Since the Demo of Nero 9 is the Same as the Retail version but Limited Codec's usage is built into the Demo’s Both Nero 9 And Move-It.

I will include a Video Release so User may use the “Video Shorts” for Private (Home Use Only) But No Commercial for profit use. and lets be honest, the quality of these are compress down to a small web stream size :-}

If those that wish a greater high quality for (DVD or ipod) I will post the higher definition videos on a free site, “but I believe I am getting the cart before the horse”

So lets see how this works out, and how this is accepted and what people need.

Ken

Nero 9: First Impressions

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 09 Oct 2008 09:09:57 GMT

I must admit that I was really surprised by the appearance of Nero 9 and MoveIt. I'd missed a recent MVP call - I was somewhere in the air between Australia and New Zealand at the time it happened - so I'd not kept up with the news. NeroDude has asked me to post some first impressions, so here goes...

Firstly, Nero Burning ROM has always been the centrepiece of the suite for me, and it was nice to see some small but welcome changes. I've recently purchased a Blu-Ray writer/HD-reader, and it seems like there have been some welcome changes there. HD-DVD writing support has disappeared, although I don't think any actual HD-DVD writers ever reached the market anyway. So that's no significant loss.

The inclusion of media recovery tools is a welcome and sensible addition. Media recovery is becoming such a critical issue, with so few people backing up and protecting their digital assets. And don't forget SecurDisc, which has been around for a while now, but should see a lot more use in Nero 9.

Nero live: that's interesting. I think I've said that Vista Media Centre is the one and only good thing about Vista, but the VMC still irritates me. Why, for example, can I have only two tuners? Live can apparently have four.

I've always thought Showtime was an under-appreciated application, as it's one of the best Quicktime players around. Apple's Quicktime player is shockingly bad, and Showtime has always been an excellent replacement. I'm not yet sure that I like the new look, though. We'll see.

But... we have an AWOL feature: Blu-Ray playback. It was an option before, and doesn't seem to be in this new version. I'll see if I can find out what's going on there. On the upside, UPnP playback is a very welcome addition.

I suppose the one application I'm most curious to try is MoveIt. Back at the start of the MVP program, there was a spirited private discussion amongst us regarding Recode. The suggestion was that Recode should become the hub for transcoding my media collection onto everyone's growing collection of playback devices.

And that's exactly what Nero has given us in MoveIt. Given the timing I suspect this was already done by the time that conversation happened, but I hope that it gave the developers support. MoveIt looks very cool indeed.

So, nothing too deep here, as I've just had the time for a quick look. So far I'm seeing lots of useful things, and look forward to finding even more.

Ars Technica: 750,000 lost jobs? The dodgy digits behind the war on privacy.

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 09 Oct 2008 01:31:19 GMT

I don't condone intellectual property theft, but just as bad are lies told by IP rights holders about the impact of this issue. They go beyond mere deception, as these statistics are typically used to justify the removal of people's legal rights.

Ars.Technica has done an interesting investigation into two of the commonest claims in the US, with some interesting results. Well worth reading:

http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/dodgy-digits-behind-the-war-on-piracy.ars

There's a lot of detail here, and clearly some serious investigative work has happened.

At the very start, the article quotes Lewis Carroll: "I have said it thrice, what I tell you three times is true."

I'll add another quote, from a slightly different source: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

The person who said that knew what he was talking about, and big content clearly knows it to. The quote comes from Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's chief propagandist, and a man who knew a lot about selling lies.

Geek Stuff: Hacking Smartcards at Flylogic.net

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 08 Oct 2008 09:13:36 GMT

This is pure geek stuff, so if you're uninterested in VLSI design or cryptography or security architecture, this isn't for you. But if those things do interest you, then check out Flylogic:

http://www.flylogic.net/blog

Flylogic is owned and run by Christopher Tarnovsky, former intelligence specialist turned VLSI consultant. Chris was the technical specialist behind the infamous "Black Sunday", when DirecTV disabled thousands of pirated smartcards. Sadly for him, ridiculous games between cable TV companies in the US saw him spend years testifying in courts which ultimately found nothing significant.

Wired has a fascinating article about Chris here, but for crypto-geeks and people interested in VLSI, I thoroughly recommend his blog.

Eight Months of Blu-Ray Supremacy... Or Not...

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 08 Oct 2008 08:59:46 GMT

Has it really been eight months since my last blog entry...?

Apparently so. My last entry was on the sudden departure of Toshiba and it's HD-DVD format, something I discovered had been done without notifying their partners in the format.

A lot has happened in that time.

So firstly, was Blu-Ray's win a phrric victory? Hard to say for sure, but it's certainly looking like Blu-Ray's win might have been a major waste of resources for all players. Online movie sales and rentals, most notably through Apple's iTunes, have grown significantly. Blu-Ray players and media sales remain lackluster.

Fundamentally, the problem is that the Blu-Ray HD sales proposition really has not been made to the average consumer. Upscaled DVD content seems to be sufficient for a significant part of the buying community, and the premium price paid for Blu-Ray players and media clearly isn't deemed sufficient. I took a straw poll at work recently, where I asked the several PS3 owners there who'd actually bought a Blu-Ray disk. Answer (excluding me): none.

Hmmm....

It's also notable that the Blu-Ray shelves I've recently seen, both in the US and in Australia, don't seem to be moving stock.

So what could they do to resolve this? This is something I've been pondering for a while, so let me propose three things which could be done.

Firstly - and it's the easiest step - would be to bring price-parity between the DVD and Blu-Ray releases. Reproduction costs are largely comparable on a per-unit basis anyway, and the increased pre-production and mastering charges aren't significant in high volumes.

Secondly, the price of Blu-Rayt Live! players need to drop below US$200. This is not an impossible goal. Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs) like Broadcom's BCM7440 bring the BoM costs of a player below the US$100 mark. Although selling a player at retail $200 (ie. $150 wholesale) with a BoM cost of $100 is tight, it is quite achievable. Initial profits might be low, or even zero, but this is a market building exercise.

Finally, the studios have to convince everyone that HD is important. They also have to sell the difference between HD from Blu-Ray and the appallingly bad so-called HD ATSC and DVB-T broadcasts that so rightly underwhelm many viewers. The studios need to educate people to recognize the artifacts that upscaling 480i and 576i DVD footage to 1080p introduces. Once people can recognize it, it's a very small step to becoming sensitive to it, and then it's pretty much guaranteed to annoy.

So, there you have it.

Blu-ray's pending death in next few years

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 18 Sep 2008 23:40:49 GMT

After the director of electronics for Samsung said Blu-ray would be gone by 2013, it seems like a couple of different bloggers and journalists have also agreed Blu-ray will lose its relevance over the next few years. A recent article published on TechRadar lists five different reasons Blu-ray will be doomed in 2012.

The first reason cited is high-definition movie downloads, which are just around the corner, will make the need for expensive high-definition movie players obsolete. Microsoft's Xbox Live, Apple's iTunes and Vudu already offer HD movie viewing directly to the TV through the Internet, but the only thing that may delay HD movie downloads is the rate of adoption of broadband Internet. Even though many users now have fiber Internet or other high-speed Internet, broadband adoption in the United States remains lackluster.

Blu-ray Disc Live "is a joke," according to the authors of the TechRadar Blu-ray article. Indeed, the fact that BD-Live does not work on older players means that there are Blu-ray disc owners who have BD-Live capabilities but don't have a player that can support BD-Live.

Whether or not this is relevant, the authors of the article believe Samsung already predicting the demise of Blu-ray in five years is a strong sign that the format will peak soon. In addition, optical technology, according to Take Miyama, Sony product manager for home video marketing, has reached its peak and can go no further.

And the final reason Blu-ray will meet an early demise, according to TechRadar, is that DVDs will still be good enough for the average consumer, even in 2012. It seems true that most consumers today are willing to keep their aging DVD players rather than upgrade to an expensive Blu-ray player. But as more consumers begin to make the transition to high-definition TVs, it'll be interesting to see if they are also willing to spend cash on the lower cost of Blu-ray.

Roxio v Nero: Chapter 3: Attack of the Cloned (DVDs)

MyNeroUserWithNickname@nero.com () — 14 Aug 2008 02:31:12 GMT

So I'm back from my vacation to the sunny 10,000 lakes of Minnesota and I have a burned DVD of pictures and music my friend made for me. Well, I would really like to share those songs and pics with my Maryland friends and family and I need to make them a disc: it's time to make a backup...

Nero's going to be first this time and I head right into the software program and find "Backup" easy to find in the top right corner. I move right in for the kill and click "Copy Disc" in the second row. Nero Express opens up quite quickly and asks whether I'd like to copy a CD or a DVD, easy selection since I have a DVD+ disc. Just as a sidenote the disc is about 78% full at 4.0GB. After selecting the file where I want to store the file (I'm going with desktop for ease). Disc copy begins at 9:14pm... at 9:25 it's done and the file is ready to be burned. After clicking the NEXT button and finding my file, burning begins at 9:26. At 9:36 it's all over. I'd say that's a pretty darn smooth process and fast as well. Easy to maneuver and very intuitive. Only downside, it's nice when there is a 1-step process... maybe I just haven't found it here yet...

On to the Roxio version. First thing I find is that my Roxio program has a "Backup" function just like Nero, but the only option I have is to upgrade!!! Good grief, I haven't even started and already I'm getting a bit frustrated. Finally I find the Disc Copy function and figure this is my best bet, considering the whole backup idea went by the wayside. I begin the copy and it appears to be a one step process, which is cool. Copying starts at 9:39 and I notice that it tells me the sectors that have been burned so far... nice little feature as well. I get through the copy at 9:48, 9 minutes is pretty good. So far I'm giving the edge to Roxio, but the tide turns quickly. As soon as I put in a blank disc, the program kicks up the "Insert Disc" message again. The program doesn't recognize my blank disc, and believe me, it's brand new off the spindle. When I cannot burn the disc, I'm not using the program again...

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.... This round goes to Nero for simply working smoothly!!!